SteveB Dublin Visit Photos and MSDN Flash Editorial

In this week's MSDN Flash Ireland editorial, I reflected on Steve Ballmer's visit to Dublin and looked toward our next focus: the November launch events. 

I've been eagerly awaiting the official photos from the SteveB visit.  Here are a few half-decent photos here I took of the various SteveB events I attended.

Flash Ireland contains a bi-weekly summary of what we're up to here in the Developer and Platform group, and also includes customizable links to new MSDN articles of interest.  Sign up for it here if you haven't already.  Here's Tuesday's editorial.  Sappiness level: moderate.

This MSDN Flash is coming out a little bit late, but I have the best excuse ever.

Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, was in town last week as part of the Microsoft 20 Years in Ireland celebrations. He addressed audiences ranging from academics at Trinity College Dublin to our developer and partner communities.

Steve's recurring theme throughout the day was productivity, and how IT can be used to help enable people to reach their full potential.

It's a message that came across vividly and uniquely to each audience, but perhaps never more transparently than when Steve was addressing developers. The deep integration of the .NET developer tools across the platform, from Visual Studio to SQL Server, is empowering developers to get more done faster, and think about building applications that would previously have been out of reach.

And the deep integration I'm referring to isn't just technical: it's also about people. With the addition of Team System, Visual Studio 2005 is integrating new roles deeper into the software development process -- roles like architect, tester, and project manager. At the other end of the spectrum, with the Express Editions, Visual Studio is now integrating students and hobbyists in an affordable, discoverable, intuitive way.

Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 have been in beta for the better part of this year, and they'll both launch in November with great fanfare. I've just returned from preparations this morning for the Dublin event, which involved (would you believe) resurrecting a brain-computer control interface built with .NET!

Continue to watch our blogs and MSDN Flash for more information about the launch events. Some of them are already listed below.

Here in the Microsoft Ireland Developer and Platform Group, we'll keep focused on bringing you events that will help you get the most out of what's new in the 2005 wave of technologies.

After all -- it's a mighty big goal Steve's set us: to connect you with resources that will help you reach your full potential!

With best wishes and hoping to see you at the launch in November,

Rob

Have a great weekend, everyone!